


The Voltron Experience

by tsar_chasm



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Humelle, Kacxa - Freeform, Post-Canon, plance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25480381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsar_chasm/pseuds/tsar_chasm
Summary: Since the events of Voltron: Legendary Defender, Lance McClain has been on an intergalactic tour called "The Voltron Experience", talking about his experience as a Paladin of Voltron, joined by other Paladins and people from his journey along the way. Now, two years later, near the end of the tour, Pidge joins, reigniting feelings she'd long wished would go away. Meanwhile, a dangerous new threat has been consolidating power behind the scenes and paying close attentions to the Paladins.
Relationships: Acxa & Keith (Voltron), Acxa/Keith (Voltron), Hunk & Romelle (Voltron), Hunk/Romelle (Voltron), Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt, Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt
Comments: 22
Kudos: 29





	1. Prologue/Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Pidge was sitting at her desk at the Garrison when a desperate Hunk Garret came across her screen.

“Pidge! Hey! How are, uh, things at the Garrison? Any cool technological...developments?”

Pidge answered the call with a sense of excitement. It had been too long since she could talk shop with her fellow Paladin and another tech wiz besides her brother and Leifsdottir.

“Plenty! Chip is doing great, really toeing the line between being an advanced supercomputer and a learning-AI robot. I’m really proud of him. And I mean of him, not me being proud because I made him. It’s so cool seeing him learn and make connections. Then there’s the things we’ve got going on with project Vehicle Voltron, or V2!”

“That’s pretty amazing, Pidge!” Hunk twiddled his fingers together, fidgeting in anticipation. Pidge noticed and sighed. He didn’t call about the new tech being developed.

“Okay Hunk, spill, what’s going on?”

“Going on? Nothing, nope, well, I mean, huh, since you asked…” Hunk exhaled. “Okay so y’know how there’s been this tour we’ve been doing for the past 2 years or so? About our experiences as Paladins of Voltron? Telling stories and answering questions, all that razzle dazzle stuff?”

The ‘we’ was unnecessary, Pidge only attended two or three such events until she decided she had more interesting projects. Even Keith participated more. But she’d humor him.

“Sure, what about it?” She turned her chair and began tossing and catching a ball against a wall while listening.

“Well, we’ve hit a bit of a scheduling conflict. The conflict being an important diplomatic series of events that could be a matter of war and peace between multiple planets. And...if you could cover for us on the panel, we’d all really appreciate it! All of us...y’know, me, Shiro, the multiple planets at the tipping point between war and peace…”

Pidge looked at her desk. It had papers on different subjects, multiple projects she’d keep open at a time. She had been told by her brother, father, and even her own robotic son that she should take a break…

“What about Keith? Can’t he take the stage?”

“Off with Acxa on what everyone has dubbed their honeymoon, a series of top secret Blade of Marmora missions together. Off comms unless it’s a total emergency.”

_ Of course they are. _

“What would I even do? I’ve never been great at entertaining crowds. And don’t you suggest one of those brain bugs!”

“It’s not some big performance, Pidge. All you have to do is show up, smile for the crowd, talk about old Voltron days, answer questions from the crowd, and enjoy the free hotel suite and continental breakfast. The tour is pretty much over at this point, one or two more stops and it’s done! Honestly I’d just hate to disappoint the crowds of people that already paid for tickets only to be disappointed...And, y’know, the intergalactic coalition we’re trying to set up for a lasting peace...”

“Sheesh, I’ll do it!” Pidge finally relented. “No need for the guilt trip.”

“I’m not trying to guilt trip you! But honestly, you might even enjoy yourself. Take some time away from the lab, a nice hotel room, I know for a fact that the hotels usually have better spas than the Garrison. I know Lance will really appreciate it if you showed up, otherwise he’d be hosting the panel himself!”

“Wait, what about Lance?” She leaned forward slightly in her chair, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, this tour was practically his idea. I mean, y’know, he was on his family’s ranch, then all of the Voltron fans were all ‘aaaah, oh my gosh, we want to know what the whole Voltron thing was like!’, and Lance was so bored on the ranch, so here we are.”

“Yeah, here we are. Okay, just give me the day, time, location, and I’ll pack a bag. Wouldn’t want to let the team down.”

“Thanks, Pidge! You’re the best!” Hunk gushed. “I’ll send all the info you need in a follow-up message. And hey, enjoy yourself!”

_ Right _ Pidge thought.  _ Enjoy myself, with the feelings I’ve been trying to kill for years. _

Some crushes are hard to get over. She had hardly tried to find someone else. She fell for Lance hard. Between trying to get over him and finding someone else, it just felt like so much effort, so she just threw herself into her work instead. Pidge hoped the crowd wouldn’t act like a kettle of vultures inquiring about her love life...but she didn’t have much faith in crowds.

**Chapter 1**

Pidge arrived at the convention hall without any trouble. Like with most public places she went, she was in a sort of camouflage so people wouldn’t recognize her as a Paladin of Voltron. She hated getting swarmed by fans unexpectedly and had learned her lesson after the first undisguised public appearance, all the people and noise and questions when she was just trying to go about her day. But in just a few hours, she would be on stage as herself, undisguised, answering questions in front of an audience that had gathered just for her and Lance.

Pidge made her way to a room backstage where everyone looked busy, making preparations for the panel. Lance entered the room a few minutes later with a data pad in his hand. Uncharacteristically, he presented a sense of commanding leadership, stressed but confident.

“Okay people, I know the caterers aren’t here to set up yet and people are still at the door waiting to be let in, but let’s just keep our heads cool and we can figure this out! Hunk, what’s the-” Lance looked around for his sizable friend who seemed to speak another language when it came to dealing with the catering company they would use on any given planet; food was his universal language. But instead he found someone smaller and smarter. His face showed confusion at first, then elation as he recognized his co-pilot.

Lance went in for the hug.

“Pidge! It’s great to see you!” He said, as he let her down after a quick spin of a hug.

“Yeah, great to see you too, put me down??”

“Ah, sorry, but really! I’m glad you’re here.” Lance let her down, his hands on her arms.

He let her go as he introduced her to the other members of his tour, and the current situation they were all now in.

“...And now we don’t know where the catering company is because that was usually Hunk’s job, and we’ve got this government type telling us we’ll be over capacity if we go by the guest list, which Coran and Shiro usually helped with!” Lance was hysterical, pointing at the list, inches from her face.

“Lance, breathe!” Pidge said as she grabbed his head, then let go. “Calm down, we can fix this, we just need to organize a bit. Take the data and make it work for us.”

“...Right!.” Lance nodded, as Pidge let him go.

“Alright, so let’s take a few deep breaths and go over the catering details and guest list versus the venue capacity, maybe we can tweak the seating so we can fit more people in. Send me what you have.”

“Okay, and...sent!”

“Hmmm…” Pidge looked over all the data on a datapad and closed her eyes for a minute.

Lance loved that look. In their adventures, that look meant a miracle was about to happen.

“Okay, catering? Easy enough solution there, you’ve sent them to 3009 East Feros Street, when they need to be here, at 3009 *West* Feros Street. Considering the east address is a dilapidated MgRonaldo’s and NOT a convention center, they should’ve known better, but there’s no time to scold them now.” She pointed to one of the assistants Lance had pointed to. “Go call them and have them get here within half a quintant or, and this is from Lance, they won’t get their cut!”

Okay, she was also kinda scary with that look, but luckily she was on their side, Lance thought.

“Next, this capacity problem: this official is going by individual numbers but not by the mass, so certain species are being unfairly counted as just one seat when they may take up more than one seat or less than one seat, depending on their species. The best way around this is to take the seats that have been reserved and sort them by species, then by size, as well as factoring friends that want to sit by each other, regardless of size, as is the usual case. Given my estimates, I’ve freed up 48 seats.” Pidge pointed to another one of Lance’s assistants. “Go tell the line of people those are the seats we have and they don’t have much choice in seating, that’s the best we can do!”

With the problems having been dealt with, Pidge closed and rubbed her eyes again before looking back up Lance.

“Was there anything else that needed fixing?”

Lance’s face went from awestruck to his usual confident expression.

“No, Pidge, now all that’s left is for us to get on stage for our adoring crowd.” Lance said as he hooked his arm around her shoulder.

“Oh joy, public speaking…”

**To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge takes the stage with Lance on the Voltron Experience!

Chapter 2

"Okay, everything is back on track. Should be on schedule with only half an hour delay!" He proclaimed. "Pidge, need anything before we go onstage?"

"We'll have a pitcher of water and some cups, right? I don't think we'll need anything more than that. Are we just wearing our normal clothes, something fancy, or did you bring our Paladin armor?"

"Nah, it's nothing formal, we're just going to wear our normal clothes, keep it casual. Generally they ask us about the most famous battles we've survived, the ones everyone's heard about, they just want our take on it, hear it first-hand!" Lance sounded like he'd done a hundred of these, though it's only been a dozen or so. "Occasionally they'll ask about other stuff, but like when Keith was here, most of his answers began and ended with 'that information is classified'. He can draw a crowd, but definitely didn't know how to keep the crowd entertained!"

"I'm sure he had good reason, with all of the work the Blade of Marmora is doing," Pidge said with a chuckle. "You can't exactly spout off battle tactics for fan service. Is that why he's not doing this with you? Can't please the crowd?"  
"Well, yeah, that plus all of his ‘important and mysterious’ Blade of Marmora stuff."

"Keith and Acxa have been in deep cover and surveillance operations for potential threats, Lance, so yes it's pretty important!"

"Yeah, I get how it's really important. Not all of us can just become a Blade of Marmora to help around. It's like what Shiro said, we all have a way to help. Keith is the best at this spy stuff, I'm more fit for..."

"Comic relief?" Pidge smirked. Lance rolled his eyes.

"Well, if the shoe fits! People want to listen, so I'm happy to speak. And apparently, so are you!"

"You know I'm only doing this because Hunk is busy doing something that's actually important, and I didn't want you to have to do this alone."

A few moments passed. She didn't think what she said was particularly controversial, but it still hung in the air until she realized why what she said was so heavy.

"Right, well I...appreciate it. You, I mean, being here. I mean besides this there's not a lot going on for a Paladin of Voltron without Voltron. I'm gonna grab some food, I'll meet you back here in a few tics, before the show starts." Lance walked away, his head down, hands in his pockets.

"Uh, sure, I'll just wait here. Maybe get some work done..." Way to go, genius.

==================================================================================================================================

"HUNK!!" Pidge 'whispered' loudly into her communicator in a side room. "You did NOT tell me I would be doing this with just Lance, or that things would be this disorganized!"

"Oh yeah sorry, it's generally pretty hectic but tends to work itself out before the doors open. Did you calculate the attending species versus the length and width of the seating in the venue?"

"Well obviously. Have you been doing that this whole time?"

"Yeah, but I didn't tell Lance, he's never been into programming and all that until it solves some huge problem. Which hasn't happened for him in a while."

"Okay but why did it have to be me and Lance?"

"We’ve been over this, Me and Shiro are trying to get a few planets to reach a sense of diplomacy, y’know, world peace sort of business, and Keith and Acxa are-"

"Yeah, yeah, Blade of Marmora honeymoon, I was busy too! The other Garrison teams, important research, Chip??"

"But you said yes anyway." Hunk Garrett was much better at reading people than she was, to Pidge's annoyance. "We're not, uh, having this conversation out loud with Lance in the room, are we?"

"Of course not, he left to get some food."

"Good, good. I wonder what he's getting? No, no getting sidetracked. Point is, he wasn't exactly disappointed when I suggested you replace me for a bit."

"Oh. Uh, what did he say? That I could explain some science stuff better or more accurately than he could?"

"No, he just...sounded like he would be happy to see you. Like it would be good to catch up, reconnect, maybe show the audience you're still friends."

Friends. She thought. Is that what people are called after you stop talking to people after your giant robot lions leave you? She knew that wasn't fair either. She wasn't exactly inviting Lance to the Garrison every week to show off her team's achievements. Maybe she should've. Or maybe bitterness felt more justified than regret.

"Just take it as it comes. Answer the audience's questions, shoot some photos, it'll be over before you know it. Oh hold on, I'm getting another call. I gotta take this, diplomacy stuff, I’ll call you tomorrow, bye!"

"Oka-" CLICK "-y. Bye."

*15 minutes later, as the curtains on the stage rose*

"And now the moment you've all been waiting for, the Sharpshooter and the Hacker, The Blue and the Green, the left and right arms of Voltron themselves! Please, let's hear a round of applause for our special guests here tonight, Lance McClain and Katie "Pidge Gunderson" Holt!"

The crowd applauded and cheered, and for once, Pidge took a moment to feel like a rockstar. She could tell which people were there for her, just her. She had to admit, while she never got into the universe-saving business for fame, it was nice being appreciated as such. Was this why Lance did it? If it was, the charm of it had to have worn off by now, right?  
Lance grabbed her hand and lifted her out of her seat, and bowed to the crowd, bringing her down to a less graceful bow, but both coming up at once.

"Thank you all for coming out, we appreciate it so much!" Lance announced to the crowd. "Now for those of you expecting our amazing engineer and chef, Hunk Garret, he had some very important diplomatic business to take care of. That's not to scoff at who's here to replace him though!"

Lance let go of her hand and put a few feet between them, a spotlight focusing on Pidge. Must be rare for Lance, she thought. She didn't like the spotlight. She looked to Lance, who was only beginning to address the crowd.

"Now you all know about the Green Paladin, pilot of the Green Lion. We've spoken on this stage, even without her here, about how she's saved Team Voltron more times than we could count!"

The crowd cheered again as Lance egged them on for a minute, before calming down back into their seats.

"Okay, we all know why you're here, who's got questions about the time we spend as Voltron?"  
Hands shot up across the room. Lance looked to Pidge, signaling that she should choose. Gee, no pressure.

"Uh, you there, mid-center row, third from the north-west?"

It took a minute, some arguing ensued as they tried to figure out who exactly she was talking to. It was an awkward minute but eventually they peaceably agreed to a teenaged girl in the general area that Pidge had directed toward. A young, part-Galra girl, who looked like she could bench-press a car, but dressed like she would rather learn how to interpret DNA at a crime scene, with a long coat and notepad in hand.

"Yes, you!" Pidge said, trying to give the impression that she was the one Pidge was pointing out. It wasn't, but she was glad it was her. She probably had some science-related question in mind, which was just her area of expertise.

"My question is for Pidge? Or is it Katie? How do you want to..."

"Uh Pidge is fine. The universe knows me as that, who am I to argue?"  
The crowd laughed. She wasn't sure how much of it was a joke. She didn't think it mattered. She knew who she was.

"Okay, Pidge," She giggled, it's hard to keep a straight face when talking to a literal legend. "My question is, being one of only two girls on the team, how did you navigate that kind of gender-imbalanced environment?"  
Whoa, right off the bat, huh? Not gonna ask about preferred programming skills, going straight for the basically-only-girl thing?

"I'm...glad you asked that!" Pidge began. "The truth is that pretty much nobody on the team cared about that sort of thing. Shiro already knew me from knowing my family, he was close with my dad. Hunk apparently figured it out but didn't want to 'out' me, Allura tried to get me to open up but I ended up just talking about peanut butter, Keith didn't care, and Lance..."  
She looked at Lance. Was that part of the story really hers to tell? Surely it was because it involved her, but it was also his part in her story...

"And I just shouted 'Pidge is a girl?!' " Lance laughed. Of course he'd play it for laughs. The crowd laughed with him for a minute before he started again. "No, really, she was convincing! Looking back, she took a lot of looks from her brother, who had gone missing along with her father and Shiro himself, believe it or not. Anyway, she called herself Pidge Gunderson, which should've been a big red flag by itself, but I had more to worry about, considering me, Hunk, and Pidge were all trying to make it in the Galaxy Garrison. Well, at least me and Hunk were. Next question? You there, in the Hawaiian looking shirt!"

"Uh this is a traditional Rachlochi tunic!"

"Yeah, great, so you know who I'm talking to anyway. Your hand's up, question!"

"Oh right, my question is for Lance, so you flirted with a lot of non-human girls, but nobody had seen you flirt with Pidge, who is a really human girl. Why is that?"

The crowd began to murmur. Of course Pidge had thought about this before, but that was back in the beginning of their adventure. She figured he was probably just trying to not cause drama in a team that already dealt with its fair share of drama along with fighting a war. Even Lance was smart enough to draw a line there.

"Well the truth is that by the time I learned 'Pidge Gunderson' was really 'Katie Holt', I already knew Pidge Gunderson, so realizing who she really was just didn't make much of an impact after the initial shock. She was still just Pidge."

Just Pidge. Pidge thought. Whatever.

"I never had to put on any sort of act around her, or act how I think a girl would want me to be. I could be myself. I mean, it was mostly that way with the whole team, but with small exceptions. I wanted to impress Shiro, be better than Keith, and Allura-" Lance stopped. Even mentioning her name gave him pause. It gave him pause, but just a moment. It had been some time. He knew she wouldn't want him to weep over just mentioning her. He cleared his throat and continued.  
"Point is, I know where I stand with Pidge, I don't feel like I have to impress her, we can just hang."

The eyes in the room seemed to shift to Pidge, like she was supposed to respond to a question they hadn't spoken. Lance was looking at her too, with that encouraging smile of his.

"Uh, yeah. I mean I didn't really know all of that, but yeah..." Her spirit began to pick up as she began to think back, and the memories rushed in, "I mean, it feels like Lance was always impressed with all of my tech stuff, but I was just being me. It was nice. And this one time, we raided a mall's water fountain for as much money we could find to buy this really old video game. I had to jury-rig such old tech to interface with such advanced Altean technology. Lance had fallen asleep by the time I got it working, but we spent so many nights playing the Killbot Phantasm series, just me and him. I mean, Hunk was there occasionally, but he wasn't as into it. He mostly brought snacks."

"Well he was more into it when we were playing Monsters & Mana! I still can't believe you got me into that. Since then I've joined a ton of M&M groups. And ruined more than a few. Ah, good times. Next question?"

Why did I think this would be so hard? Pidge thought. I mean this is all that people want, to know what they didn't see or hear about, get to know the Paladins of Voltron.

"Oh, you with the green hair!"

"It's moss..." A cool voice rang back from the crowd.

"Lookin' good. Got a question for me?"

"Uh this is for Pidge also. Hey Pidge, how's the love life? Anyone interesting?"

Shit.

"Uh, well, I've been really busy with work. I mean between work and spending time with Chip, uh he's my AI son-I mean he's like a son but more like a kid that I know that, uh, he's a robot but y'know he's really his own person which is just, so nice, both from a technological standpoint as well as endearing to see something so young and curious, like a kid, discover and learn about the world around them..."

"So...is that a no?"

Pidge glared as she attempted to hide her annoyance. No, she hadn't been romantically involved with anyone lately...or really ever, not that it was anyone's business. She'd tried, some guys from her the Garrison had asked her out, or when she would hang out at the occasional bar with colleagues and showed that sort of interest, but it never seemed to pan out. They would talk about science, and it would go great, and then they would start gushing about how they were talking with THE Pidge Gunderson, or THE Katie Holt, Paladin of Voltron, Legendary Defender of the Universe, brains of the team that saved the multiverse.

After a few of those dates, she focused on her work. Or rather threw herself into it. Her brother noticed just how frustrated she was when she was able to cut the power draw of their portal generator by 27%.

"It's more of a no comment, thanks. Next question."

With the sharp tone of her answer, the rest of the night progressed without any more questions of Pidge's love life, and nobody was dumb enough to ask about Lance's love life. His ex-girlfriend sacrificed herself for the multiverse and gave him a pair of scars to remember her. No, he couldn't think of his Altean marks like that. He didn't want to. He shouldn’t.

As the night came to a close, Lance and Pidge thanked the crowd for coming out. The fans that paid for the VIP package were invited backstage to hang out for a bit, but the spotlight of popularity had worn Pidge out quickly. She always was an introvert, so she called it a night after about an hour of 'meet and greeting’. Lance noticed this and left just half an hour after she did.

==================================================================================================================================

Lance found Pidge in the lobby with a cup of tea, sitting by a couch near a fireplace. Lance had made a point to make sure the venue they attended and the hotel they stayed in were separate, and the hotel kept secret. Lance had made this a key point after the second panel he'd hosted carried over to the outside of his hotel room where he was trying to get some sleep.

In this secret location, Lance, and now Pidge, could be in public without people crowding around them. Lance took a moment to look at Pidge before joining her on the couch. He really looked at her. How her features were different. Older, but not old. Closer to what he saw in the mirror every day. They weren't the kids they used to be. He looked past that and saw her calm as she took in the steam and scent of her tea. She looked so...peaceful. He wondered if she had a couple dozen calculations bouncing around in her brain, but when she opened her eyes to look at him, that wasn't what he saw. She looked...relieved. To see him, an old friend.

She was always surrounded by people that felt like strangers, aside from her family. The scientists around her survived the Galra invasion of Earth, sure, but they never went toe to toe with giant monsters in a giant, will-powered robot, participated in a twisted game show by a little green man, or nearly went mad in deep space with no hope of rescue. But like Lance had said, "Any minute now, something will come along and try to kill us," as they were adrift in deep space, her hand in his.

Lance took a breath and in a few short steps took a seat next to Pidge on the couch,

"How's the celebrity status treating you? Hasn't gone to your head already, has it?" Lance said with a smirk.

"I'm surprised your head hasn't burst with how much these crowds have been filling it. You really enjoy all of this?"

"Yeah, I guess I do. I mean, I don't wanna spend my whole life attempting to relive 'the glory days'...especially considering how traumatizing those glory days were..." Lance said, with honesty backing up his tone. "But people want to know! And why keep it all to ourselves? We'll write autobiographies later, but to hear it straight from us? And to tell them ourselves, with no middleman, I'm there."

"Hah, true. May as well hear it from us, instead of from some biographer that doesn't know what he's talking about. 90% of the time, it was just us there, so nobody could tell our story better."

"Exactly."

A moment of comfortable silence hung in the air as the fireplace crackled a bit. Might as well say it now

"Hey, Lance?"

"Yeah?"

"What you said earlier, about just being yourself around me? Thanks. I never really thought about it like that, but it's nice to know."

"Oh, uh, no problem. I mean, it's just true. I never felt like I had to put up an act around you."

"Because you thought I was a guy." Pidge teased.

"Because you'd already seen how I act when I'm not around girls. That's a barrier that a girl doesn't usually get to see, ask any guy."

"Yeah, I'll be sure to jot that down on my to-do list."

"I remember those times too, with the Killbot Phantasm series? Probably the best times I had on the castle. Like I wasn't some teenager, thrust into a war that began thousands of years before I was born with magic giant robot lions, against big aliens and robots. I was just a normal teenager, playing a retro video game with a friend, y’know?"

Pidge stood up.

"I have to go. To bed. Where's my room key?"

"Oh, uh I haven't picked them up, it's over at the front desk, under McClain. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I-wait, why is it under your name?"

"I booked a two-bedroom suite, like usual, why get two different rooms that aren't suites?"

"Right, yeah." Pidge took another calming breath, probably the last effects of her tea. 

"Goodnight, Lance, see you tomorrow."

"Okay, we'll catch up more later! Good-" Lance said as Pidge was already walking away. "night."

Pidge walked up to the desk and requested her rook key. What was all that? she thought. Why was she so frustrated with Lance? He wasn't the one asking questions, in fact his answers were so...genuine. They were too good. Not that she doubted his honesty, but it was almost what she expected to hear. Would anyone else have expected him to answer like that? About her? She needed a break.

Pidge made her way up to their suite. Being saviors of the universe afforded some lofty benefits, according to their room. It had to be their best suite, or at least close. She'd fallen asleep at her desk, or been tiredly dragged from her desk to a cot they set up in what was considered her personal quarters, that maybe she'd forgotten how nice a nice place can look. To her it looked like a lot of unnecessary pillows. How many pillows does a person really need?  
After a shower and a change of clothes, apparently that was a lot. Changing into a pair of shorts and an oversized shirt for pajamas, she set up an extranet connection. She needed to talk to someone.

"Hey Ma!"

"Hey, Chip! It's great to see you." Pidge said, sighing with relief.

"How's the panel thing going? Is it nice reconnecting with Lance?"

"Oh, it's a mixed bag. I mean you know I'm not a huge fan of the crowd, but Lance likes it. But tonight everyone was asking questions about me!"

"Well, wouldn't they? The tour generally focused on Lance, so when he has a guest like Keith or Hunk, they get more questions than he does due to the amount of time they can ask him questions versus the time they can ask his guests questions. It's supply and demand, the supply of paladins makes the time to ask questions of higher demand. They see Lance a lot, so they can ask him whatever, whenever, but the others, including yourself, are more rare."

"You're too smart for your own good, kid."

"I get that from you!" Chip said. It always made Pidge give a smile of love towards the closest thing to a son she had when he said things like that. He wasn't programmed to say it, or anything like the sort. And yet he said things like that anyway. "Anyway, I gotta go, tell Lance I said hey!"

"You gotta go? Where do you have to be, young man?"

"Well, nowhere, but you need rest, judging by the slight muscle movements on your face, indicating your need for sleep. Goodnight, ma!"

"Heh, goodnight, kiddo." Pidge closed the chat window. She did need some rest. Today was day one. Who knew how long Hunk's diplomacy-stuff would take? She needed to get a grip. Even if the entire tour demanded why her and Lance never...were. As she turned the lights out, she heard Lance come in.

"Hey Pidge, it's just me! Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!"

"Oh, hey about tomorrow-!"

"Goodnight!!!"

End of Chapter 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not as much Q&A as I'd have liked for there to have been included, but I didn't see much benefit in rewriting the entire chapter a third time, and I wanted to keep the story moving forward. On with the show in the next chapter!


	3. The Panel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge takes the stage with Lance on the Voltron Experience!

Chapter 3: The Panel

"Okay, everything is back on track. Should be on schedule with only half an hour delay!" He proclaimed. "Pidge, need anything before we go onstage?"

"We'll have a pitcher of water and some cups, right? I don't think we'll need anything more than that. Are we just wearing our normal clothes, something fancy, or did you bring our Paladin armor?"

"Nah, it's nothing formal, we're just going to wear our normal clothes, keep it casual. Generally they ask us about the most famous battles we've survived, the ones everyone's heard about, they just want our take on it, hear it first-hand!" Lance sounded like he'd done a hundred of these, though it's only been a dozen or so. "Occasionally they'll ask about other stuff, but like when Keith was here, most of his answers began and ended with 'that information is classified'. He can draw a crowd, but definitely didn't know how to keep the crowd entertained!"

"I'm sure he had good reason, with all of the work the Blade of Marmora is doing," Pidge said with a chuckle. "You can't exactly spout off battle tactics for fan service. Is that why he's not doing this with you? Can't please the crowd?"  
"Well, yeah, that plus all of his ‘important and mysterious’ Blade of Marmora stuff."

"Keith and Acxa have been in deep cover and surveillance operations for potential threats, Lance, so yes it's pretty important!"

"Yeah, I get how it's really important. Not all of us can just become a Blade of Marmora to help around. It's like what Shiro said, we all have a way to help. Keith is the best at this spy stuff, I'm more fit for..."

"Comic relief?" Pidge smirked. Lance rolled his eyes.

"Well, if the shoe fits! People want to listen, so I'm happy to speak. And apparently, so are you!"

"You know I'm only doing this because Hunk is busy doing something that's actually important, and I didn't want you to have to do this alone."

A few moments passed. She didn't think what she said was particularly controversial, but it still hung in the air until she realized why what she said was so heavy.

"Right, well I...appreciate it. You, I mean, being here. I mean besides this there's not a lot going on for a Paladin of Voltron without Voltron. I'm gonna grab some food, I'll meet you back here in a few tics, before the show starts." Lance walked away, his head down, hands in his pockets.

"Uh, sure, I'll just wait here. Maybe get some work done..." Way to go, genius.

========================================================================================

"HUNK!!" Pidge 'whispered' loudly into her communicator in a side room. "You did NOT tell me I would be doing this with just Lance, or that things would be this disorganized!"

"Oh yeah sorry, it's generally pretty hectic but tends to work itself out before the doors open. Did you calculate the attending species versus the length and width of the seating in the venue?"

"Well obviously. Have you been doing that this whole time?"

"Yeah, but I didn't tell Lance, he's never been into programming and all that until it solves some huge problem. Which hasn't happened for him in a while."

"Okay but why did it have to be me and Lance?"

"We’ve been over this, Me and Shiro are trying to get a few planets to reach a sense of diplomacy, y’know, world peace sort of business, and Keith and Acxa are-"

"Yeah, yeah, Blade of Marmora honeymoon, I was busy too! The other Garrison teams, important research, Chip??"

"But you said yes anyway." Hunk Garrett was much better at reading people than she was, to Pidge's annoyance. "We're not, uh, having this conversation out loud with Lance in the room, are we?"

"Of course not, he left to get some food."

"Good, good. I wonder what he's getting? No, no getting sidetracked. Point is, he wasn't exactly disappointed when I suggested you replace me for a bit."

"Oh. Uh, what did he say? That I could explain some science stuff better or more accurately than he could?"

"No, he just...sounded like he would be happy to see you. Like it would be good to catch up, reconnect, maybe show the audience you're still friends."

Friends. She thought. Is that what people are called after you stop talking to people after your giant robot lions leave you? She knew that wasn't fair either. She wasn't exactly inviting Lance to the Garrison every week to show off her team's achievements. Maybe she should've. Or maybe bitterness felt more justified than regret.

"Just take it as it comes. Answer the audience's questions, shoot some photos, it'll be over before you know it. Oh hold on, I'm getting another call. I gotta take this, diplomacy stuff, I’ll call you tomorrow, bye!"

"Oka-" CLICK "-y. Bye."

*15 minutes later, as the curtains on the stage rose*

"And now the moment you've all been waiting for, the Sharpshooter and the Hacker, The Blue and the Green, the left and right arms of Voltron themselves! Please, let's hear a round of applause for our special guests here tonight, Lance McClain and Katie "Pidge Gunderson" Holt!"

The crowd applauded and cheered, and for once, Pidge took a moment to feel like a rockstar. She could tell which people were there for her, just her. She had to admit, while she never got into the universe-saving business for fame, it was nice being appreciated as such. Was this why Lance did it? If it was, the charm of it had to have worn off by now, right?  
Lance grabbed her hand and lifted her out of her seat, and bowed to the crowd, bringing her down to a less graceful bow, but both coming up at once.

"Thank you all for coming out, we appreciate it so much!" Lance announced to the crowd. "Now for those of you expecting our amazing engineer and chef, Hunk Garret, he had some very important diplomatic business to take care of. That's not to scoff at who's here to replace him though!"

Lance let go of her hand and put a few feet between them, a spotlight focusing on Pidge. Must be rare for Lance, she thought. She didn't like the spotlight. She looked to Lance, who was only beginning to address the crowd.

"Now you all know about the Green Paladin, pilot of the Green Lion. We've spoken on this stage, even without her here, about how she's saved Team Voltron more times than we could count!"

The crowd cheered again as Lance egged them on for a minute, before calming down back into their seats.

"Okay, we all know why you're here, who's got questions about the time we spend as Voltron?"  
Hands shot up across the room. Lance looked to Pidge, signaling that she should choose. Gee, no pressure.

"Uh, you there, mid-center row, third from the north-west?"

It took a minute, some arguing ensued as they tried to figure out who exactly she was talking to. It was an awkward minute but eventually they peaceably agreed to a teenaged girl in the general area that Pidge had directed toward. A young, part-Galra girl, who looked like she could bench-press a car, but dressed like she would rather learn how to interpret DNA at a crime scene, with a long coat and notepad in hand.

"Yes, you!" Pidge said, trying to give the impression that she was the one Pidge was pointing out. It wasn't, but she was glad it was her. She probably had some science-related question in mind, which was just her area of expertise.

"My question is for Pidge? Or is it Katie? How do you want to..."

"Uh Pidge is fine. The universe knows me as that, who am I to argue?"  
The crowd laughed. She wasn't sure how much of it was a joke. She didn't think it mattered. She knew who she was.

"Okay, Pidge," She giggled, it's hard to keep a straight face when talking to a literal legend. "My question is, being one of only two girls on the team, how did you navigate that kind of gender-imbalanced environment?"  
Whoa, right off the bat, huh? Not gonna ask about preferred programming skills, going straight for the basically-only-girl thing?

"I'm...glad you asked that!" Pidge began. "The truth is that pretty much nobody on the team cared about that sort of thing. Shiro already knew me from knowing my family, he was close with my dad. Hunk apparently figured it out but didn't want to 'out' me, Allura tried to get me to open up but I ended up just talking about peanut butter, Keith didn't care, and Lance..."  
She looked at Lance. Was that part of the story really hers to tell? Surely it was because it involved her, but it was also his part in her story...

"And I just shouted 'Pidge is a girl?!' " Lance laughed. Of course he'd play it for laughs. The crowd laughed with him for a minute before he started again. "No, really, she was convincing! Looking back, she took a lot of looks from her brother, who had gone missing along with her father and Shiro himself, believe it or not. Anyway, she called herself Pidge Gunderson, which should've been a big red flag by itself, but I had more to worry about, considering me, Hunk, and Pidge were all trying to make it in the Galaxy Garrison. Well, at least me and Hunk were. Next question? You there, in the Hawaiian looking shirt!"

"Uh this is a traditional Rachlochi tunic!"

"Yeah, great, so you know who I'm talking to anyway. Your hand's up, question!"

"Oh right, my question is for Lance, so you flirted with a lot of non-human girls, but nobody had seen you flirt with Pidge, who is a really human girl. Why is that?"

The crowd began to murmur. Of course Pidge had thought about this before, but that was back in the beginning of their adventure. She figured he was probably just trying to not cause drama in a team that already dealt with its fair share of drama along with fighting a war. Even Lance was smart enough to draw a line there.

"Well the truth is that by the time I learned 'Pidge Gunderson' was really 'Katie Holt', I already knew Pidge Gunderson, so realizing who she really was just didn't make much of an impact after the initial shock. She was still just Pidge."

Just Pidge. Pidge thought. Whatever.

"I never had to put on any sort of act around her, or act how I think a girl would want me to be. I could be myself. I mean, it was mostly that way with the whole team, but with small exceptions. I wanted to impress Shiro, be better than Keith, and Allura-" Lance stopped. Even mentioning her name gave him pause. It gave him pause, but just a moment. It had been some time. He knew she wouldn't want him to weep over just mentioning her. He cleared his throat and continued.  
"Point is, I know where I stand with Pidge, I don't feel like I have to impress her, we can just hang."

The eyes in the room seemed to shift to Pidge, like she was supposed to respond to a question they hadn't spoken. Lance was looking at her too, with that encouraging smile of his.

"Uh, yeah. I mean I didn't really know all of that, but yeah..." Her spirit began to pick up as she began to think back, and the memories rushed in, "I mean, it feels like Lance was always impressed with all of my tech stuff, but I was just being me. It was nice. And this one time, we raided a mall's water fountain for as much money we could find to buy this really old video game. I had to jury-rig such old tech to interface with such advanced Altean technology. Lance had fallen asleep by the time I got it working, but we spent so many nights playing the Killbot Phantasm series, just me and him. I mean, Hunk was there occasionally, but he wasn't as into it. He mostly brought snacks."

"Well he was more into it when we were playing Monsters & Mana! I still can't believe you got me into that. Since then I've joined a ton of M&M groups. And ruined more than a few. Ah, good times. Next question?"

Why did I think this would be so hard? Pidge thought. I mean this is all that people want, to know what they didn't see or hear about, get to know the Paladins of Voltron.

"Oh, you with the green hair!"

"It's moss..." A cool voice rang back from the crowd.

"Lookin' good. Got a question for me?"

"Uh this is for Pidge also. Hey Pidge, how's the love life? Anyone interesting?"

Shit.

"Uh, well, I've been really busy with work. I mean between work and spending time with Chip, uh he's my AI son-I mean he's like a son but more like a kid that I know that, uh, he's a robot but y'know he's really his own person which is just, so nice, both from a technological standpoint as well as endearing to see something so young and curious, like a kid, discover and learn about the world around them..."

"So...is that a no?"

Pidge glared as she attempted to hide her annoyance. No, she hadn't been romantically involved with anyone lately...or really ever, not that it was anyone's business. She'd tried, some guys from her the Garrison had asked her out, or when she would hang out at the occasional bar with colleagues and showed that sort of interest, but it never seemed to pan out. They would talk about science, and it would go great, and then they would start gushing about how they were talking with THE Pidge Gunderson, or THE Katie Holt, Paladin of Voltron, Legendary Defender of the Universe, brains of the team that saved the multiverse.

After a few of those dates, she focused on her work. Or rather threw herself into it. Her brother noticed just how frustrated she was when she was able to cut the power draw of their portal generator by 27%.

"It's more of a no comment, thanks. Next question."

With the sharp tone of her answer, the rest of the night progressed without any more questions of Pidge's love life, and nobody was dumb enough to ask about Lance's love life. His ex-girlfriend sacrificed herself for the multiverse and gave him a pair of scars to remember her. No, he couldn't think of his Altean marks like that. He didn't want to. He shouldn’t.

As the night came to a close, Lance and Pidge thanked the crowd for coming out. The fans that paid for the VIP package were invited backstage to hang out for a bit, but the spotlight of popularity had worn Pidge out quickly. She always was an introvert, so she called it a night after about an hour of 'meet and greeting’. Lance noticed this and left just half an hour after she did.

=======================================================================================

Lance found Pidge in the lobby with a cup of tea, sitting by a couch near a fireplace. Lance had made a point to make sure the venue they attended and the hotel they stayed in were separate, and the hotel kept secret. Lance had made this a key point after the second panel he'd hosted carried over to the outside of his hotel room where he was trying to get some sleep.

In this secret location, Lance, and now Pidge, could be in public without people crowding around them. Lance took a moment to look at Pidge before joining her on the couch. He really looked at her. How her features were different. Older, but not old. Closer to what he saw in the mirror every day. They weren't the kids they used to be. He looked past that and saw her calm as she took in the steam and scent of her tea. She looked so...peaceful. He wondered if she had a couple dozen calculations bouncing around in her brain, but when she opened her eyes to look at him, that wasn't what he saw. She looked...relieved. To see him, an old friend.

She was always surrounded by people that felt like strangers, aside from her family. The scientists around her survived the Galra invasion of Earth, sure, but they never went toe to toe with giant monsters in a giant, will-powered robot, participated in a twisted game show by a little green man, or nearly went mad in deep space with no hope of rescue. But like Lance had said, "Any minute now, something will come along and try to kill us," as they were adrift in deep space, her hand in his.

Lance took a breath and in a few short steps took a seat next to Pidge on the couch,

"How's the celebrity status treating you? Hasn't gone to your head already, has it?" Lance said with a smirk.

"I'm surprised your head hasn't burst with how much these crowds have been filling it. You really enjoy all of this?"

"Yeah, I guess I do. I mean, I don't wanna spend my whole life attempting to relive 'the glory days'...especially considering how traumatizing those glory days were..." Lance said, with honesty backing up his tone. "But people want to know! And why keep it all to ourselves? We'll write autobiographies later, but to hear it straight from us? And to tell them ourselves, with no middleman, I'm there."

"Hah, true. May as well hear it from us, instead of from some biographer that doesn't know what he's talking about. 90% of the time, it was just us there, so nobody could tell our story better."

"Exactly."

A moment of comfortable silence hung in the air as the fireplace crackled a bit. Might as well say it now

"Hey, Lance?"

"Yeah?"

"What you said earlier, about just being yourself around me? Thanks. I never really thought about it like that, but it's nice to know."

"Oh, uh, no problem. I mean, it's just true. I never felt like I had to put up an act around you."

"Because you thought I was a guy." Pidge teased.

"Because you'd already seen how I act when I'm not around girls. That's a barrier that a girl doesn't usually get to see, ask any guy."

"Yeah, I'll be sure to jot that down on my to-do list."

"I remember those times too, with the Killbot Phantasm series? Probably the best times I had on the castle. Like I wasn't some teenager, thrust into a war that began thousands of years before I was born with magic giant robot lions, against big aliens and robots. I was just a normal teenager, playing a retro video game with a friend, y’know?"

Pidge stood up.

"I have to go. To bed. Where's my room key?"

"Oh, uh I haven't picked them up, it's over at the front desk, under McClain. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I-wait, why is it under your name?"

"I booked a two-bedroom suite, like usual, why get two different rooms that aren't suites?"

"Right, yeah." Pidge took another calming breath, probably the last effects of her tea. 

"Goodnight, Lance, see you tomorrow."

"Okay, we'll catch up more later! Good-" Lance said as Pidge was already walking away. "night."

Pidge walked up to the desk and requested her rook key. What was all that? she thought. Why was she so frustrated with Lance? He wasn't the one asking questions, in fact his answers were so...genuine. They were too good. Not that she doubted his honesty, but it was almost what she expected to hear. Would anyone else have expected him to answer like that? About her? She needed a break.

Pidge made her way up to their suite. Being saviors of the universe afforded some lofty benefits, according to their room. It had to be their best suite, or at least close. She'd fallen asleep at her desk, or been tiredly dragged from her desk to a cot they set up in what was considered her personal quarters, that maybe she'd forgotten how nice a nice place can look. To her it looked like a lot of unnecessary pillows. How many pillows does a person really need?  
After a shower and a change of clothes, apparently that was a lot. Changing into a pair of shorts and an oversized shirt for pajamas, she set up an extranet connection. She needed to talk to someone.

"Hey Ma!"

"Hey, Chip! It's great to see you." Pidge said, sighing with relief.

"How's the panel thing going? Is it nice reconnecting with Lance?"

"Oh, it's a mixed bag. I mean you know I'm not a huge fan of the crowd, but Lance likes it. But tonight everyone was asking questions about me!"

"Well, wouldn't they? The tour generally focused on Lance, so when he has a guest like Keith or Hunk, they get more questions than he does due to the amount of time they can ask him questions versus the time they can ask his guests questions. It's supply and demand, the supply of paladins makes the time to ask questions of higher demand. They see Lance a lot, so they can ask him whatever, whenever, but the others, including yourself, are more rare."

"You're too smart for your own good, kid."

"I get that from you!" Chip said. It always made Pidge give a smile of love towards the closest thing to a son she had when he said things like that. He wasn't programmed to say it, or anything like the sort. And yet he said things like that anyway. "Anyway, I gotta go, tell Lance I said hey!"

"You gotta go? Where do you have to be, young man?"

"Well, nowhere, but you need rest, judging by the slight muscle movements on your face, indicating your need for sleep. Goodnight, ma!"

"Heh, goodnight, kiddo." Pidge closed the chat window. She did need some rest. Today was day one. Who knew how long Hunk's diplomacy-stuff would take? She needed to get a grip. Even if the entire tour demanded why her and Lance never...were. As she turned the lights out, she heard Lance come in.

"Hey Pidge, it's just me! Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!"

"Oh, hey about tomorrow-!"

"Goodnight!!!"

End of Chapter 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not as much Q&A as I'd have liked for there to have been included, but I didn't see much benefit in rewriting the entire chapter a third time, and I wanted to keep the story moving forward. On with the show in the next chapter!


	4. The Breakfast Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge and Lance play a game and eat breakfast. Couldn't be simpler, right?

Chapter 4: The Breakfast Club

Pidge awoke with the same amount of sleep that she usually got. She wasn’t a firm believer in sleeping in unless she felt especially tired. This early morning, she felt restless. Earth time? It was 4am. Pidge got a solid six hours, more than enough for her, she thought as groggily rolled to the other side of her hotel bed. She chalked it up to sleeping in a hotel bed that wasn’t her own, along with being on a different planet with a different day and night schedule. That kind of switch would mess with anyone’s circadian rhythm.

Pidge wasn’t a stranger to waking up before everyone else, and she almost always used the time to get things done. Having been around the galaxy once or twice, it wasn’t a problem without a solution. Back on the Castle of Lions, she would spend time looking into Galra and Altean code and technology. Both were magnitudes above Earth technology, and they needed all the help they could get. Time and time again, her hard work paid off and would save her friends from doom.

After the war, she took on the challenge of taking Altean and Galra code and safely adapting and integrating it into human technology, making sure there were no malicious Galra code or security gaps. It wasn’t easy; the Blade of Marmora had stuck to its secretive ways and wasn’t sharing much, despite being accepted as unofficial Galra representatives on the Galactic Federation. It was even harder getting insight into Altean technology; most of the surviving Alteans were too young to really understand the inner workings of their own technology. The problem wasn’t helped by the fact that Altean technology is practically magic, and they hadn’t found any living Altean alchemists. Any Altean elders they had found didn’t trust outsiders.

Despite those setbacks, Earth, and many other planets in the Galactic Federation were more secure with updated technology in case there were any unexpected threats. Through the success of an advance reconnaissance effort, a number of Olkari escape ships were found. The surviving Olkari were a major benefit in filling in the gaps between human and Galra technology, with small advances in integrating Altean technology. The Olkari were brilliant with tech, but even they couldn’t bridge the gap between real, hard science and Altean alchemy. The only way Zarkon was able to do it was with his own Altean witch, Haggar.

Pidge grabbed her water bottle off the nightstand, took a long drink, and hopped out of bed. When she was told about this tour with Lance, it brought back memories, and a certain answer from Lance last night had gotten gears turning in her head. She knew what to do, it wasn’t the first time she’d thought about doing this. She brought out her computer, cords, and pair of gamepads, and got to work.

========================================================================================

Lance walked out of his room of the suite to see Pidge on the floor in the living room of their suite, with two devices setup to their holoscreen. He recognized one as a Mercury Gameflux IV, two generations newer than what they’d used on the Castle, but familiar enough to recognize. The other was likely. Something powerful enough to hold all of Pidge’s ideas, programs, equations, and various documents on her ideas, programs, and equations. And probably some movies too.

Pidge was in the middle of a game of Killbot Phantasm 5000. She had gotten it a while ago but told everyone she “didn’t have time” to play it. Maybe this tour is the vacation she needed to find some free time Lance thought as he grabbed some orange juice from the fridge.

“How’s KBT5K?” He said from the kitchen, over the sounds from the holoscreen.

“Pretty difficult without a player 2! Anytime would be nice!” She shouted, as if entrenched in the battle scenario. She’d look at him with a smile, to encourage him to join her, have some fun, but instead she kept her eyes locked in the intense battle happening on the screen.

Sure enough, her player 2 hopped over the couch and joined in quickly enough to even the odds!

“Okay, deal me in, where are our weak points?” Lance asked.

“We just have the Southeast quadrant. We’re going for a Monarch-Ion offensive maneuver!” Pidge responded to Lance, “Drones heading our way with mortar units backing them up.”

“Got it, I’ll equip thresher smoke to disorient, prep a counter-mortar launch to clear ads!”

“Roger, positioning, aimed...Are you in position?”

“You know it!” Lance winked

“Firing...Aaaaaand direct hits on all targets!”

“Nice! Moving north to regroup to take the western front.”

“Understood, moving ground forces to regroup in mass assault formation.”

“Charging through the front, have the side forces cover our push so I can go for direct damage…!”

“Sending them in...Direct hit!!” Pidge shouted.

“Yes!” Lance cheered, as he hugged Pidge in victory. It lasted a moment, unnoticed. Two moments passed, and they hadn’t released each other. The third moment brought them back to reality as they separated.

“That was, huh, some leadership, huh Pidge?” Lance huffed out.

“Oh it was just, y’know, consolidating our forces towards their weakest point and then spreading out to draw fire from our main attacking unit. Basic stuff.”

“Basic or not, we still kicked their butts! We alway did make a great team.” He said, with a smirk and a wink. “So what do winners have for breakfast? Besides orange juice and victory?”

“Well, usually I just eat what’s on base at the Garrison...when I’d remember to eat. So, cereal?”

“Oh my poor, poor, Pidge. No, not cereal. How abooooout, bacon, eggs, toast, and chopped up and glazed strawberries on top of pancakes!” Lance advertised, hungrily.

“Well I’m not sure if I’m THAT hungry…”

“Ah come one Pidge, it’s room service! And have you had strawberries from off-earth? Trust me, they got better! Besides I already ordered it all, should be here in a few minutes.”

“They can cook all that in a few minutes?”

“Nah, I ordered it an hour ago when I was half asleep, and asked to have it here in an hour or so. I figured I’d really appreciate it once I was really awake, and it’s less pressure on the kitchen since they have so much time to make it instead of asking for it on short notice.” Lance was a genius in his own way, anticipating both of their needs, of bacon, while ordering so in advance that she didn’t even think to order room service.

Right on cue, a knock on the door signified the beginning of breakfast. Lance made his plate first. He must have been used to this to some degree; like a morning routine, he buttered the pancakes, drizzled the glazed strawberries over them, then began to cut them into sq-

“Uh, hey Pidge? Dig in?” Lance said, noticing that he was the only one to start in on breakfast. She did as lance did, buttering then drizzling then cutting. The scent of the butter, syrup, and strawberry made her pause and breathe in the scent. To think she spent so many mornings eating whatever just because eating was a distraction from her work when she could probably have something like this. She sighed out the scent and spoke at Lance.

“Wow. Thanks, Lance. I didn’t think you were the type to put in so much thought into something like breakfast, but you planned ahead and it turned out really…” Pidge stopped, seeing Lance with a mouth full of food. “You just started without me?!”

“Uh, duh, I’m hungry, ordered breakfast, it’s here. Have breakfast, will eat.”

She hated when Lance made her look like the dumb one, but she guessed he had a point. Didn’t make it less irritating. But the pancakes helped as she took a fork full. She wouldn’t admit it to him, but Lance was right, these non-earth strawberries had a sharper taste to them than natural earth strawberries. It was probably Hunk’s idea.  
“Okay, breakfast connoisseur, since you’re the expert here, I guess the orange juice is made from special non-earth oranges, pressed in some special machine?”

“Nope, these are shipped from Florida but kept fresh through their travels in space. Turns out Oranges are one of Earth’s most valuable exports. Drink up, it’s a delicacy in most systems!” Lance laughed. 

Pidge couldn’t help but snicker a bit too. After years of eating food goo and whatever else Hunk decided to make out of whatever he found, it was funny that she was on an alien planet drinking orange juice made from oranges from Earth. One big intergalactic circle coming to an end in her glass of breakfast juice. She decided to hold out her glass towards Lance.

“Hey. How about little toast?”

“Okay, to what?” Lance replied, raising his glass towards hers.

“Hmm. To...reconnecting. I’m glad I’m here.”

Lance took a moment to really appreciate what she said. He knew how well she worked with people compared to machines. So to be glad here, with him, in this moment, and to tell him so? He knew Pidge was making somewhat of a grand statement, and Lance could appreciate that, so he raised his glass.

“Yeah, I’m glad you’re here too. Cheers.” He said as his glass made contact with her glass.

They both took a swig enough that the toast meant something, but left enough in their glasses so they still had more to drink. There was plenty of food left; Lance usually ordered for him and Hunk, and Pidge definitely couldn’t eat his share. There was plenty of food left over from breakfast. Lance advised they put the rest of the food into one container and reheat it all at once for the next meal. Pidge didn’t tell him no, but made a mental note to not eat Lance’s cooking due to choices like this.

Lance exhaled loudly, satisfied with breakfast.

“So Pidge, last night that fan asked about your love-life, and you said you were just busy with work...” Lance said, treading lightly.

Pidge paused for a moment, then leaned back in her chair.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“You had a pretty short fuse about it. I get that you probably don’t want to talk about that with a stranger in a crowd, but, y’know…” He gestured between the two of them with his fork.  
She rolled her eyes at the prospect, but when she looked again she saw sincerity in his face. She closed her eyes and sighed. Of course he would care about this sort of thing and butt in more. But what could it hurt to talk about it?

“Okay, yeah, it’s been kinda...difficult. I went on some dates, a couple of guys from the Garrison, mostly other scientists.”

“Oh.” Lance said; he sounded surprised. “Uh, well that’s good!”

“Sure, I guess, but it always ended the same way. ‘I mean you’re THE Katie Holt, yOu SaVeD tHe UnIvErSe, blah blah’.”

“Well, it is sort of an exclusive club of seven or so members.”

“Yeah, but I’m not just some idol for someone to gush over, y’know? I’m more than just what I’ve done. Like, do you think any of them asked what kind of cookies I like?”

“Hah, uh peanut butter cookies, and no I don’t think they’d guess that on a first date” Lance pointed to her with a smirk.

“Heh, exactly, not a lot of people with shared life experience. I mean, sure, given the amount of time that’s passed in the universe and the vastness of the universe, I’m sure LOTS of people have been caught adrift in space. But how many stayed alive for days only to be attacked by some giant hallucinatory space monster, and lived?”

“Yeah. I get what you mean. At least you have the benefit of a kick-ass R&D career now that Voltron is gone.” Lance said, dejectedly. “I mean sure, people want to hear what I have to say, and to talk to us, but other than this, it’s working a ‘simple life’ back on the farm. Like, does that sound like what I’d want?”

“You? Of course not. You joined the Garrison to be a fighter pilot. Sure, you ended up being a Paladin of Voltron, and basically rose to the highest rank one could rise to, but I understand.”

“I figured you would.”

“What about you? I mean, I know it wouldn’t be easy, given…” Pidge paused to try and say her next few words tactfully. “..what you’ve been through. But I mean you must have seen some, uh, hot alien girls throughout these talks you’ve been doing?”

“Uh, yeah, no yeah there have been a lot of cute alien girls. But they’re not…”

Allura Pidge thought.

“Familiar.” Lance finished.

The word hung in the air for a few moments as Pidge softened. She had a tendency to forget that beneath the bravado and charisma, Lance was incredibly sensitive.

“Yeah, guess I know exactly what you mean.” Pidge said. “I mean what’s more familiar than our exclusive club of ‘saved the multiverse’?”

Pidge practically muttered the last bit. She knew more than Lance what ‘familiar’ meant. Someone who knew him in hard times, as opposed to what a normal date would feel like. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to shout. She had to get out of this tour if she was going to leave it with her sanity intact.

“Well, yeah, pretty much. I dunno, I just think-”

“I have to make a call, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Pidge said, decisively.

“Oh. Okay, we can keep talking about this later. Or sooner? If you want?” Lance said after her as she walked out the door, down the hall.

Pidge selected Hunk to call on her watch, the one who set this whole mess in motion. He answered almost immediately.

“Hey Pidge! How’d the first night go?” Hunk greeted. First night? How many more could she take?

“Uh, it went...great! But I don’t know if I can do any more. Are you about done? With your whole diplomacy thing?”

“Uh, not exactly. Can’t make peace between interplanetary rivals without breaking a few eggs! Or, a lot of eggs. Like, a lot of eggs. Between that and negotiations on trade…”

“Ugh okay fine!” She snapped, before sighing.

“Is everything okay?”

“No, it’s not. I mean it’s not bad but that’s not the problem..”

“Talk to me, what happened, what are you feeling?” Hunk calmly asked. But where would she even begin?

“I just...Hunk, I like Lance.”

“...Yeah, hello Pidge, we all like Lance?”

“No, I mean…” Crap. “I mean I *like* like Lance. I have for a while. Like, before we saved the universe...and during.” Pidge said, with a hand over her face, almost covering her mouth with the revelation.

“Oh. OH. Really? This whole time? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Not the whole time, no, but, I don’t know, somewhere along the line it just hit me. But I couldn’t let some dumb feeling get in the way of saving the universe. So I just...waited. I thought that, well, I don’t know, after the war, when we were home? I’d tell him how I felt, but then...y’know.”

A moment hung in the air. They both knew she wasn’t blaming Allura, but Hunk knew what she meant.

“I waited too long and lost my window. I missed my shot. She got him first.”

“So that’s why you want to stop the tour? You don’t like being around him?”

“Well, no. It’s actually been really nice. We played KBP, had breakfast, and then just talked.”

“Then what’s the problem? Just relax, act natural.”

What’s that supposed to mean? Pidge sighed.

“Yeah, you’re right of course. Just gotta act natural.”

“That’s not what I meant. And I think you’re overlooking something.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, you’re there, he’s there...I dunno, maybe this is a second chance? For both of you. Why not take it? Tell him how you feel.”

“Because, man, what if he doesn’t feel the same way? I’m not some magic space princess!”

“No, you’re the smartest girl on the team of Paladins that saved all of reality. But putting that aside, if you want Lance and don’t know how he feels, then take a page out of his playbook.”

“Oh what, Lance has a playbook now?”

“Just listen; how long was Lance after Allura before she went out with him? He wasn’t just sitting on the sidelines waiting for her to notice him, he made moves, flirted, all that jazz! He wanted her so that’s what he did. You want him, so you…?”

“Yeah, maybe...Thanks, Hunk.” Pidge hung up the phone, took off her glasses, and rubbed her eyes. Maybe she was overreacting. She dealt with Lance and how she felt about him through an entire war in space, how hard could a speaking tour be? Or maybe Hunk had a point and she should try...She straightened up, put her glasses back on, and exhaled as she went back into their suite.

“Hey Pidge, let’s go out!” Lance shouted from the living room.

End of Chapter 4


	5. Gone Shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Pidge take a cab to get swimwear for beach day. Couldn't be simpler, right?

“Hey Pidge, let’s go out!” Lance shouted from the living room, causing Pidge’s eyebrows to shoot up.

“O-out?!”

“Yeah, to the local shops by the beach, I wanna get a new pair of trunks and probably a pair of sunglasses for the beach here before we leave this planet. Don’t make me go all alone!” Lance pleaded to her. “Besides, I’m betting you didn’t pack a swimsuit, did you?”

Of course not, she thought. Why would I pack a swimsuit for a speaking tour?

“You got me there. Besides, I need a new swimsuit anyway, I haven’t gone to the beach or a pool in so long.”

“Great! I’ve got some huge discounts on some brands because of these endorsement deals I made. Perks of saving the universe. It’s free advertising for them, free stuff for me! Just give me a few minutes to get ready and we’ll head out.”

Pidge took a few minutes to brush her teeth and fix her hair a bit, cleaned her glasses, and picked her usual outfit, a brown jacket, T-shirt, and jeans.

It was another half-hour before Lance was ready, which Pidge spent half-annoyed sitting on the couch switching between applications on her phone. How much primping could one guy need??

“Okay, let’s head out!” Lance stepped out of his room looking like he was the leading role in a blockbuster movie, like he was prepared for any angle to get his picture taken. Pidge cleared her throat as she clicked a link on her phone.

“Our ride should be here in a few minutes, there’s a good shopping district near the beach that specializes in what we’re looking for.”

“Ah, thought of everything once again, I love that about you, Pidge!”

“Ah well y’know, I had the time while you were getting ready.” She blushed only slightly. “And...our ride’s here, let’s get to the lobby.”

“Right behind you!”

They met their driver in front of their hotel, a small, goblin-looking alien in front of a nice, spacious looking limousine.

“Very nice to meet you! Very very nice! Thank you for saving all of existence!” He said, shaking their hands vigorously. He shook one of their hands before switching to the other Paladin, then back to the other Paladin, then back to the other one. It went on for a full minute before Pidge got sick of it and gripped his hand tightly.

“You’re VERY welcome!” She glared with her eyes but smiled and said with a growl. “Let’s get going now.”

“Oh yes! Of course! Just this way!” The little green man gestured behind him...as the limousine drove off, revealing a small, cramped “vehicle”. “It’s small but fast! Not fast like Black Lion, no portals, but fast!”

“Good thing Hunk isn’t here, there’s no way all three of us would fit in that!” Lance whispered to Pidge with a nudge. “Well, let’s bite the bullet and just get in the...whatever this is.”

The two Paladins squeezed inside the vehicle which, despite all laws of physics, seemed even smaller on the inside. There wasn’t a single bit of space between them, they were as close as they could be.

“Seriously, maybe a bit of elbow room on your side???” Pidge muttered to Lance as she settled into her side of the vehicle.

“Hey, you’re the small one! I’m doing what I can here! I can barely get the door closed.”

“Okay! All ready for short trip to the beach, yes? Then we go!” Their driver announced.

“Wait! We’re not-!” Lance started but was interrupted by the speed of the small, ridiculous vehicle they were in, yanking them from the hotel to their destination.

“Th-th-this is how he got his high r-r-rating I think!!” Pidge was able to get out. Indeed, for how small their ride was, their driver was even faster, in speed and navigation, taking wild brakes and sharp turns. As Pidge and Lance were flung into each other by the force of the vehicle’s momentum so many times, it became less ‘awkward bodily contact’ and more ‘get me off of this roller coaster’ as they clung closely.

“LAND!!” Pidge shouted as their driver stopped abruptly and released the locks on their doors and she dived out of their seats.

“Yes, very nice, soft Andalusian sand! Thank you for appreciating very nice beach! Very good for tourism!” Their little green driver waved at them from his spot in the driver’s seat. “Enjoy our beaches, paladins of Voltron! Choose Chelchin again for FAST driving, yes? Yes!” Chelchin, was that his name or the name of the company he works for? Before they could ask, Chelchin sped off.

“Maybe next time I should pick the ride.” Lance smirked at Pidge.

“...Yeah, okay. In my defense, he had a high rating for travel time!” Pidge said, still sitting on the sand.

They both laughed for a minute, and Lance extended his hand to help her up. Pidge took it and stood up, brushing the sand off of her clothes.

“So, beach day, what’s on the list?” Lance asked.

“You should know, this whole thing was your idea.”

“I know, but I figure you’ve got some mental list of stuff we need that I haven’t thought of.”

I hate it when he’s right.

“Okay, you got me. So, I need a swimsuit, and we can rent you a surfboard, we’ll need sunscreen-“

“I’m not worried about getting a tan, Pidge.”

“...because this planet’s atmosphere doesn’t filter ultraviolet radiation as well as Earth’s does.”

“So sunburn here means…”

“Means if we’re not careful, we’ll be peeling a lot worse than an Earth sunburn. I don’t think your fangirls would appreciate that.” Pidge smirked.

“Alright, alright, I get the point, extra strength sunscreen is on the list. I’m sure everyone in this neighborhood sells that.”

“Everyone in this neighborhood would be accustomed to the planet’s ultraviolet rays. But if we find some sort of tourist shop, they’ll probably be accustomed to outsiders. It’s about a mile away.”

“A whole Earth mile??”

“Well gee, Lance, we could always call our good friend Chelchin to drive us there!”

“OKAY! Okay, we’ll walk. On the bright side, there are worse places to walk along.”

“What do you mean?”

“Uh, hello, a long walk on a beach, a cloudless sky, in a new place? It’s one of the things I love about all the different places I get to see. It’s all different, but you can find pieces of home everywhere.”

Pidge thought about what Lance said as they both continued walking towards the shops. She guessed he had a point. Pidge liked to keep things under control, know all of the variables and outcomes so she can be prepared. But Lance? He just took things as they came, and he could see the bright side of bad situations. Even adrift in space, he was sure something would come along...to try and kill them, sure, but try was the word she noted in that desperate moment. They had gotten through unbelievable odds before, she thought back then, so why wouldn’t some roaming space pirate try to take them as prisoners, then Team Voltron would take over the ship, rendezvous with their lions, and resume their journey home to Earth. It didn’t work out that way, but Lance’s attitude helped her through that experience.

So for just a single Earth-mile, she figured his optimism would see them through this as well...but it was still pretty hot out. Still, they began their walk to the shops.

“So...Any idea what you want? Design, brand, color?” Lance asked, trying to fill the air and pass the time. In his head he already knew the answer, something simple,“it’s just a swimsuit”, but it was always fun to test out whether he was right or not. If he knows her as well as he thinks he did. And he did.

“I dunno, something green.” She replied. “Probably a…”

She paused and thought back to what Hunk had said, about maybe having a second chance with him. Maybe…

“A...two-piece. Maybe you could help me out? See what looks good on me?”

Lance blushed, taken aback.

“Uh, yeah, I can try to give a good outside perspective. I mean I don’t know how outside it’d be because I’ve known you for so long but like I can try to be...a bit, uh…”

Clueless?

“Uh, unbiased!” He finished. Maybe Pidge was being too discreet. But even Lance would have to see her as a girl, no, a woman at this point! Back in their Voltron days she went from boy to boyish to girlish, but she really matured, her hair was down to her shoulders and she grew 4 inches, along with other changes that came with being a woman. Lance had to have noticed some sort of change!

“Oh don’t give me that, you’re always looking at girls, just help me out and let me know if you see something that would look good on me!”

“Alright, alright! Geez, it’s not like you would look bad anyway.”

“Huh, what’s that?”

Lance almost regretted what he said, but decided to follow through.

“I just mean you’re Pidge, but you’re not ‘just Pidge’, like...you should be more confident in how you look, because even when you dress like…”

Lance gestured to her clothes. She’d taken off her brown jacket due to the heat and had wrapped it around her slender waist. Other than that her clothes were plain. Hair in a simple style that she’d figured would be a good middle ground between presentable and putting in the least amount of work into something as trivial as her hair.

Her look screamed function over form, but what stood out was the way she carried herself. It didn’t happen when she was acting. Lance could tell that much. When she was in her own head too much, overthinking a social situation, she wasn’t as confident. But when she was using her head, leading with that big brain, she carried herself with confidence, the self-assuredness of a paladin of Voltron that had saved the multiverse. And she doesn’t even know she’s doing it.

Of course, Lance hadn’t figured out how to articulate this feeling he had.

“I mean you dress plain, but you still make it look good by being you!” Lance said, shooting a pair of finger-guns at her.

“Pff, gee thanks.” Pidge rolled her eyes as the pair kept walking down the road. She thought of what to say next, and part of her advised to keep quiet, but the other, more daring part of her brain, told her to just say it and see what happens.

“Y’know, you don’t look bad yourself. With the whole tall, lean but muscular thing,” Pidge said, in an attempt to flirt.

“Yeah? Thanks, Pidge! The couple months I spent on the farm really got me into shape, so made it a point to keep working out at the gym of the hotels I stayed at on this tour,” he explained. “Eventually it just became a relaxing time for me. It’s a good way to relieve stress.”

“Yeah, I’m sure a speaking tour with adoring fans is really stressful.”

“It can be! Really. I mean, I’m up there relaying what it was like, details of our adventures, but…” Lance trailed off. Pidge picked up on this and tilted her head at him.

“But what?”

“Nothing, it’s just...well sometimes when I talk about these crazy, dangerous things we’ve gone through, I start reliving it. And it’s scary. One time I was retelling a situation, and I got so into it that I felt anxious and hot, and it got hard to breathe, like I was back there. I guess Hunk could tell what was going on, and that I was making the crowd uncomfortable, because he reached over and pulled me back into reality and took over for a bit”

“Man, Lance, I had no idea.”

Lance exhaled loudly.

“Nah it’s fine, it doesn’t happen much.”

“But it happens.”

“Yes, it happens, can we drop it now?!” Lance snapped.

Pidge staggered a few steps behind him for a moment at his outburst before rushing a few steps to catch up.

“Lance, I just…” Pidge huffed as she caught up with Lance. “I know what you mean!”

“What?”

“I mean I don’t have moments like you said, but...at night. Some nights I get nightmares. And they’re usually of things we’ve been through, but it doesn’t go the way it did. In my memories, we win, but in the nightmares? I see us lose. And I see our team hurt.”

Lance stopped walking and Pidge stopped after she caught up with him.

“We fought a war.” Lance said. “After the fame and glory and whatever...we were just kids, but for the fate of the universe we had to be so much more. It…” Lance exhaled loudly again. “It just doesn’t seem fair. We didn’t ask for these scars.”

Pidge wanted to grab his hand. To hold him, so he knew she understood. And she knew he did, because they went through the war together. But she couldn’t bring herself to take that step, even after years of holding it in, she didn’t know for sure if this was the moment. She wasn’t sure if a moment where they were lamenting the war they survived was when she wanted their story together to start.

So she just walked by his side.

“I know what you mean.” She said, somberly. She cleared her throat.

“Okay, so! This beach! Tell me about it!” Pidge said, clasping her hands together and hoping to change the subject to something more light.

“Oh, okay so this beach is supposed to have a ton of different colors at a certain time of night!” Lance explained, exuberantly. “It’s like that thing on the north pole on earth, at night??”

“Aurora Borealis?”

“Yeah, like that, but way cooler!”

“Yeah, cool. Cool. You realize it’s only just after noon, earth time, right?”

“Which means we have plenty of time to go shopping!” Lance was back to his upbeat self.

A boardwalk of shops was close in view, the facade of the stores catering to the planet’s growing tourist crowd, advertising swimsuits and the appropriate strength of suntan lotion to endure the planet’s rays.

The two stepped into one of the shops advertising swimming suits.

Okay, Hunk said I should make moves. Easy enough. Pidge thought as the pair entered the store.

“I have a pair already,” Lance said. “But I like to get a new pair when I get to a new place, like a souvenir.”

Pidge continued browsing the selection of swimwear as Lance started a conversation with the blue alien at the register. Should she get a one-piece or a two-piece? She never really made a point to get clothes with the intention of impressing someone, it was always function over form for her. Pidge grabbed a few different pairs, and went to try them on.

“Hey, Lance, come here!” Pidge called out as she put on one of the swimsuits she had picked out. She stepped out of the dressing room as Lance approached. Her swimsuit was a dark green two-piece, with light green vines across both pieces.

Lance notices the pattern after he had noticed how Pidge filled out the swimsuit. He hadn’t expected her to look so...womanly.

“Uh wow, it looks great on you.” Lance looked her over before putting his hands on his hips and looking to the side.

“Really? I’m not sure, I was thinking of trying on a few more pairs. Maybe another two-piece that’s dark red, maybe a light blue one-piece…”

“Well if you want, sure, but like I said, that looks great on you. You should just pick that one so we can keep going.”

“Well what about a-” Pidge’s sentence was interrupted by the news bulletin on the shop’s TV above the cash register.

“Breaking news at this hour as the Altean Movement Party gains heavy traction in systems where Alteans were living in secret,” the broadcaster said, with images of Alteans, once an endangered species, dressing nicely and holding seats in governments on different planets.

“Through the skilled negotiations of their de facto, neophyte representative, Promenes Sherellen, arbitrations begun for thousands of acres of land to be given to the survivors of the Altean genocide, with a large portion of said lands being factories and farmland.”

“That’s good, right? Alteans get land, they can, uh, propagate the species?” Lance commented.

“Propagate the species?”

“I may have been offered a...few hundred spots due to my Altean markings. I turned them down, it didn’t seem like the right thing to do. Even with these blue marks on my face, I’m still like 90% human, I think, so it wouldn’t really…’propagate the species’.”

“Heh, I figured you’d jump at the chance.”

“Yeah, well for once, you’d be wrong.” Lance said as he paid for their clothes and quickly walked out the door.

Smooth move, Pidge.

“Lance, wait! That’s not what I meant!”

Lance sighed, his back against the wall.

“Of course it’s not. I’m sorry, I guess I’m kinda sensitive when it comes to…” Lance gestured to the marks on his cheeks. “They really did approach me about that sort of thing. I said no, I don’t think most of the real surviving Alteans could say that.”

“Yeah, but you’re not Altean anyway, you’re a human. Those marks are just…”

“I know. I know what they are. They’re not human or Altean. They’re hers. And now they’re mine. I’ll carry that.” Lance pulled his hands around his hair, slicking it back before exhaling.

“Okay, where to next?” Lance looked at Pidge.

“I think you were about to show me this planet’s version of Aurora Borealis?”

End of Chapter 5

**Author's Note:**

> This is a simple chapter that's setting the stage. Per the description, there's a lot more going on than just "Plance at a convention answering fanmail" (though that's always nice too). This started as that, but then I kept thinking of a post-season 8 Voltron Universe and this will be the result. Also, in general? Plance. Nuff said.
> 
> Comments and criticism are greatly appreciated, it's the only way it'll get better! Also, validation in general is just great, honestly.


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